A 60-YEAR-OLD man who went on a cocaine-fuelled thieving spree even burgled his own daughter.

Preston Crown Court heard how Barry Preston mainly stole meat from food stores in East Lancashire which he then sold on for half the retail price to fund his drug habit, which also included cannabis.

But Preston, who was living homeless but whose last address was in Fairfield Avenue, Waterfoot, latterly targeted his own daughter.

Prosecuting, Paul Cummings said the first shoplifting incident happened on New Year’s Day this year when Preston stole £29.33-worth of meat from Marks & Spencer, Rawtenstall.

Having been arrested and released by police, Preston then returned to the same store on January 26 and stole £33-worth of meat.

Mr Cummings said that while on bail awaiting a court appearance, Preston committed 10 shoplifting offences involving more than £200-worth of meat at the Co-op Store in Waterfoot between February 4 and 23, including three times on the same day on February 23.

The prosecutor said: “The statement of the store manager says that the defendant was such a regular attender at the shop that they had a book called the ‘Barry book’ which recounted each time he had been in the shop and taken items.”

While on the Co-op crime spree, Preston used bank cards which had been stolen from victim Danielle Harrison.

Mr Cummings said Ms Harrison had reported the loss of her purse, containing three bank cards and £100, and became aware that someone was using her bank cards without her permission.

She tracked one of the charges to a newsagents, recognised the defendant as the person using her card from CCTV and reported him to police.

Officers traced three charges to a Shell petrol station in Bacup.

Mr Cummings said the final offence Preston had been charged with was a burglary at the house of his daughter Carrie-Ann Preston in Burnley Road East, Waterfoot, in the early hours of February 21.

He said: “In her witness statement she said that over a period of time the defendant had been coming to the address and asking her for money.

"But on this particular occasion on February 21 she was in bed, it was 1.30 in the morning and she heard noises coming from downstairs.

"But she and the other occupants of the address took no action on that occasion and discovered the burglary the following morning at 8.40 and that was when her mother returned to the address,”he added.

Mr Cummings said the rear door of the property had been broken open and two two glass panes had been smashed, with Preston escaping with his daughter’s handbag containing two bank cards, £217 cash, her passport, an electronic cigarette and keys.

She was later to discover that one of her bank cards had been used within 40 minutes of the burglary at the Shell petrol station in Bacup.

In her victim impact statement Ms Preston said she felt a sense of betrayal, she had been crying for two weeks after the incident, she couldn’t sleep and her father had taken a number of personal items including photographs.

Preston, who has six convictions for 16 offences, pleaded guilty to burglary, 12 counts of shoplifting, two of fraud by false representation and theft.

Defending, David Farley said his client suffered with bipolar, which had not been helped by his taking of cocaine and cannabis. He said his client had become homeless

Preston was jailed for 46 weeks.